Issue:
I’m a new Roon user trying it out for the first time. I installed it yesterday and am having issues with an Airplay endpoint not working and failing to play any audio when I stream to it from Roon.
The Airplay endpoint with issues is a Phorus PR5. I purchased the PR5 new and received it yesterday and set it up as part of trying out Roon. I also purchased the Phorus USB to Ethernet adapter for the unit so that I could connect it via Ethernet and not have to worry about Wifi. The PR5 is running CAP 4.8.0.097, I read in some other support threads that an early version of CAP on the PR5 would cause issues with airplay, but I believe I have a suitably new version https://support.phorus.com/hc/en-us/articles/208665686-Why-Can-t-I-Find-the-Play-Fi-Device-Using-AirPlay-
The Phorus PR5 is advertised primarily as a DTS Play-Fi device, but it also lists support of Airplay and Bluetooth connectivity in addition to the Play-Fi support. I’ve successfully tested it with the Play-Fi app and I am shutting down the Play-Fi app when attempting to get Roon to work via Airplay. Roon sees the PR5 OK (as an Airplay endpoint) and I am able to assign a zone name. Last night during some trials, when I press the Play button on the zone it will go to a Pause button (like its attempting to play) and then after 1-3 seconds it will turn back to a Play button. No sound was heard during those trials. Earlier today I saw that when I press the Play button it would turn to Pause indefinitely, but the music progress slider didn’t update and no sound was heard.
In my trials I was able to get the PR5 to play music from Roon on three separate occasions, once initially, but it hung after I paused and tried a different song. A second time I was able to get the PR5 to play after I used the Play-fi app to confirm the PR5’s operation, then closed Play-Fi and then when I tried Roon on the PR5 zone it worked. With the music still playing via Roon, I then attempted to join the PR5 zone to my second airplay zone and it stopped playing and I wasn’t able to get it working again until several hours later. A third time I was able to get it to play after connecting to the PR5 via airplay from an Iphone, verifying that Iphone audio was functioning and then disconnecting. After I disconnected that one time, then the Roon was able to stream its audio. At that point I repeated the trial of joining to a second zone and had success. However after I disconnected (unjoined) the two zones the PR5 stopped working with Roon again.
I’ve tried repeating the steps of pairing an iphone to the PR5 via normal airplay, confirming the audio works then disconnecting, but Roon still will not play on the PR5. I’ve also tried repeating the steps of connecting to the PR5 via DTS Play-fi and verifying that audio works via Play-fi, then disconnecting, but Roon still will not play. I’ve tried disabling the PR5 within the Roon audio settings and re-enabling the PR5 a few minutes later with no success. I’ve tried resetting the default audio settings (I had tried the fixed volume setting) for the PR5 zone within the Roon settings. I’ve tried these things a number of times in different orders, but I just can’t find a way to get Roon to reliably stream to the PR5. I haven’t had any issues with streaming to the PR5 from an iphone app via airplay. When I stream to the PR5 from an iphone app via airplay, and then press play on the Roon remote on another phone, the PR5 will disconnect from the iphone, I assume because Roon is attempting to take it over. I’ve also tried powering off the PR5 and restarting it on a couple different occasions, but that didn’t help either.
Setup:
I’ve installed Roon Core on a PC running Windows 10, with an AMD FX 6100 CPU (6 core 3.30 GHz) 16GB of RAM and Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD.
I signed up for a Tidal trial and linked that to Roon. I haven’t configured Roon to my music library as I’m just trying to get basics working and explore Roon’s options at this point. Roon did pick up one Album (Hamilton Soundtrack) that’s on the PC where it’s installed.
For endpoints I’m just trying out two airplay endpoints at this time. I have the Phorus PR5 endpoint that’s having the issue and I have a Sony STR-DA1800es receiver with built in Airplay support. The Sony 1800es has been working great so far in my trial runs.
Summary of my network:
I have a closet which serves as a central point and cat6 home runs from various satellite rooms back to the closet. The satellite rooms have their own network switches that serve the devices in those rooms.
*Central pieces (these are located in the main closet)
- Zyxel C1100Z modem for DSL internet connectivity, WIFI and DHCP disabled
- TP-Link TL-R470T+ Wired Router, DHCP disabled
- Raspberry Pi running DNSMasq for DHCP and DNS services, I use static DHCP reservations for a number of hosts on my network. At this time the Phorus PR5 doesn’t have a static reservation, the PC running Roon does have a static reservation.
- Dlink Gigabit switch that serves as central switch for this equipment and the satellite switches located in different rooms.
*Wifi
- Ubiquiti Unifi AP Pro AC access point wired to the Dlink Gigibit switch in the central closet
*Satellite segments
**Family room segment (where PR5 is located)
- Gigibit Ethernet switch ran to Central Dlink Gigiabit switch
- Roku, Wii, Dish Network, Xbox 360, Xbox 1, Bluray, Sony STR-DA4600es, HDMI switch all connected to Gigibit Ethernet switch.
- Sony STR-DA4600es AV receiver has a built in 10/100 ethernet switch and the Phorus PR5 is plugged into the Sony instead of the Gigabit Ethernet switch
**Master Bedroom segment
- Gigabit Ethernet switch ran to Central Dlink Gigabit switch
- Dish Network, Sony TV, Bluray, Roku and Sony STR-DA1800es connected to Gigabit Ethernet switch
**Theater segment
- Gigabit Ethernet switch ran to Central Dlink Gigabit switch
- Sony STR-DA5600ES, Dish Network, Bluray, Squeezebox touch connected to Gigabit Ethernet
**Office segment
- Gigabit Ethernet switch ran to Central Dlink Gigabit switch
- PC running Roon Core, Raspberry PI, PC with file shares connected to Gigabit Ethernet switch
I’m looking for insight into what would be recommended next steps in troubleshooting my issue. Does Roon produce log files that are accessible that may give clues to the issue? Is the Phorus PR5 a known device that doesn’t work with Roon? Appreciate any help/guidance on what steps to take next.
Thanks